Knife-Wielding Mad Man Wounds Eight in Kuta

Two in Critical Condition After Samurai Swinging Man Goes on Rampage in Bali.

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(8/21/2010)

A mentally disturbed local man ram amok on the streets of Kuta on Thursday night, August 19, 2010, inflicting wounds on at least seven local residents and a tourists.

The brutal attack which saw the victims suffer wounds to their heads, necks, backs and arms occurred on Jalan Pantai Kuta near the Kuta Puri Hotel.

The attacker, identified as Putu Eka, the son of the hotel's owner, was said to have suddenly gone berserk and launched his attack on unsuspecting passersbys.

The injured were treated at Bali's Sanglah General Hospital where two of the victims remain warded in the intensive care recovering from severe wounds to their heads following emergency surgery.

The attacker was eventually subdued and beaten by local people before being taken by police to a mental health facility in Bangli. The man, according to his family, had been mentally disturbed for some time, but this was the first time he had become violent.

The family has apologized to the victims of the assault and promised to cover all the resulting cost of medical treatment.